Dabo Swinney: ‘It’s over.’ He could be talking about his Clemson career | Opinion

Dabo Swinney: 'It's over.' He could be talking regarding his Clemson career Opinion Anybody can look at Clemson and see it's over, but how do you end it with a legend like Dabo Swinney?

Key points

• As LSU's villain rises in Clemson rout, toppmeyer: Bad boy Lane Kiffin breaks Dabo Swinney.
• "We've got bigger tests that are going to come up, " LSU's coach remarked after his team routed Clemson, 51-10.
• Swinney, 56, is not the type to grab a Tom Clancy novel and a Tommy Bahama chair and retire early to the beach, so, this could become uncomfortable.
• Swinney's stock, within just a few years, plunged from Nvidia to Spirit Airlines.
• Kiffin described Clemson's offense to ESPN as "dysfunctional." That was putting it kindly.

Lane Kiffin's roster strategy sparks debate as experts question whether the payoff justifies the scrutiny. Dabo Swinney's last national championship feels like so long ago. If it's over, how does Clemson end it with Dabo? Swinney's buyout is a whopper. So, does he endure?

BATON ROUGE, LA – The beatdown complete, the only thing left to do was decide what to create of it. Lane Kiffin advised caution, almost as if to say: Hey, guys, this was nice, but it was only Clemson.

In an epic diss, Kiffin informed ABC his scout team scored as numerous points on LSU as Clemson did. "It was about the same score, " Kiffin remarked. Week 1 winners and losers: Clemson hits rock bottom against LSU.

Holy smokes. Coming in hot, a missile, to incinerate Dabo Swinney's career!

Kiffin described Clemson's offense to ESPN as "dysfunctional." That was putting it kindly. Pitiful fits, too.

This is what it's come to for little ol' Clemson. Swinney filled his roster with a bunch of nobodies. The squad compares to an SEC scout team.

"The best thing about that one, " Swinney remarked, "is that it's over."

He's talking regarding the game, but what concerning his career? How plenty of more humiliations must Clemson endure before somebody in power admits: This is over. So, how to execute a offramp? Would Dabo Swinney leave Clemson?

If you'd asked me before the game what Swinney needs, I'd have informed you he needs a reboot somewhere else. Leave Clemson. Start fresh somewhere else. See if that re-energizes Swinney and reignites his career. After the most lopsided loss of Swinney's career, I'm wondering: Who would be desperate enough to want Dabo?, now. He'll forever be a legend, but he's no longer a commodity.

Swinney's stock, within just a few years, plunged from Nvidia to Spirit Airlines. Even if he wasn't stubborn enough to create Clemson fire him, could he drum up a Power Four suitor once the coaching carousel kicks into gear and leave on his own terms? Not if the hiring committee gets ahold of this game film.

Swinney would be the first to remind you of his impressive career resume, but I'd point out there's a guy not much older than Dabo with a national championship ring who can't find a job, so he works for the ACC Network.

Create room on the TV set, Jimbo. Grab a seat for Dabo.

Jimbo Fisher, though, didn't obtain fired by the school where he won the national title. He left Florida State, then obtained fired by Texas A&M.

Clemson firing a legend would be altogether different. It would be firing a coach for whom it'll additionally commission a statue. Clemson could afford the statue, but what regarding Swinney's buyout? He'd be owed $57 million if Clemson fires him, and his accord includes no offset language. That, folks, is what an impasse looks like. Clemson football withers, from root to stem.

You could say Swinney created a predictable mistake by anointing veteran backup Christopher Vizzina as Clemson's starting quarterback, rather than doing what Dabo's contemporaries would do and heading to the transfer market, with a wad of cash in hand, to purchase a better quarterback.

You'd be right to say it, but the difficulty goes deeper than that.

You additionally could say Swinney was woefully unimaginative to try to play the hits by rehiring Chad Morris, with whom he rolled out Clemson's glory days more than a decade ago.

You'd be right regarding that, too, but the challenge still goes deeper.

This isn't regarding one quarterback or one coordinator. Clemson is broken, the challenges extend from root to stem. A coach who insists he's too young to retire nonetheless looks like a relic from an era that's not coming back.

Legends don't always obtain to write their ending. Tennessee sacked Phillip Fulmer 10 years after his national championship. Florida State pushed out Bobby Bowden 10 years after his second national title. Since Trevor Lawrence, well, it's been 10 years, Clemson.

We no longer have to ask whether the game has passed Swinney by. It obviously has. Heck, Tyler from Spartanburg saw this coming years ago. "We're a lot better than what we played, " Swinney remarked.

I think he means: We applied to be a lot better, back when the rules were different, back when coaches constructed rosters differently, back when the best teams didn't cost tens of millions of dollars, back when Swinney's sign, retain, develop approach built a program that was the envy of the land, instead of a glorified scout team.

This is over. When and how will Clemson and Swinney choose to end it?, now. That's the part that's tough to answer.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, dabo Swinney: Its over. He could be talking about his Clemson career is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.